Chapter 2

Taylor pouted. “But at what cost? I lost my father.”

Yes. Taylor was foolish for overlooking Sirch and his potential negative influence over Vivian. But life wasn’t black and white like Magnifico because even I couldn’t fathom losing a parent at seventeen. So, his father’s death was bound to cloud Taylor’s judgment.

“Please don’t put words in my mouth,” Katherine said. “I wasn’t trying to make light of what happened to your father.”

“I know you weren’t, but I don’t think Vivian will cause problems,” Taylor said.

Katherine gritted her teeth. “Well, Vivian’s boyfriend, Sirch, is already waging a verbal campaign against nonmagical people. He’s saying they made the previous king and queen start the Goblin War in the first place.”

“Don’t overreact, babe,” Taylor said, tugging the sides of his peacoat. “He’s only trying to create a dialogue.”

“This isn’t funny,” Katherine insisted. “There are already whispers about making nonmagical people register soon.”

“That’ll never happen,” Taylor said.

“How can you be sure?” Katherine asked.

Taylor sucked in a breath. “Vivian has better things to do than target nonmagical people.”

Raquel snorted. “Real psychopaths get other people to do their dirty work for them.”

“Exactly,” Katherine said. “Besides, I don’t even know why we’re here.”

“We get extra credit if we go today. Although we have to remember to have a parent sign the form,” Taylor said.

“Wow. Vivian is already having the schools indoctrinate young people,” Katherine said.

I agreed with Katherine. Being proud of living in Magnifico was one thing. But it was another to have blind loyalty. Taylor’s constant nagging over the last couple of days hadn’t helped garner any sympathy, and his insistence had made him resemble a bully.

I glanced up at the sky for a moment when a shadow passed overhead.

Damn. The puffy gray clouds soon pattered rain down on the crowd.

Katherine grunted. “Great. Rain is what we need.”

“I’ve got us covered,” I said.

One flick of my arm made silvery lines appear around the four of us, then vaporize into thin air a moment later.

“You don’t always have to show off your magic,” Katherine said. “If I knew it was going to rain, I would’ve brought an umbrella.”

I bit my lip, a metallic taste filling my mouth.

Sure. Feeling bad about Katherine not having magic was natural. But it wasn’t my fault, and I had only tried to do something nice by casting a protective anti-rain enchantment.

“Let’s hope Magnifico can move forward,” Taylor said.

Raquel nibbled at the corner of one of her nails. “I want to know what’s taking so long for the execution to begin.”

Katherine tucked her hands in her coat pockets after a gust of wind nipped at our faces. “People are rarely on time for anything. You should know that?”

Taylor gave Raquel a teasing wink. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re excited about the execution.”

“That’s ridiculous. It’s cold, and I want to be done with it,” Raquel said.

Sure. The enchantment I’d cast might have protected us from the continuing stream of icy rain, but magic still wasn’t perfect. There was no such trick to keep people from feeling the chilly air. At least from what I knew, because I was only seventeen.

“Don’t be so hasty. Getting rid of Penny and Dorian is important to the future of Magnifico,” Taylor said.

Katherine’s nostrils flared. “There’s no guarantee Vivian will be a good queen. The execution today might only be for show.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Taylor said.

I rubbed my forehead. I felt the beginning of a headache. “Let’s not argue.”

Yeah. There was only so much bickering I could take in one day.

Raquel snorted. “The whole Foley family is nutty. What family accepts their son/brother ran away and doesn’t try to find him?”

“People move on.” Taylor shrugged.

Raquel narrowed her gaze. “That’s harsh.”

“It’s obvious where Prince Stefan is,” Katherine said.

Taylor’s eyes widened in apparent disbelief. “Okay. Where is he?”

Katherine coughed, clearing the scratchiness from her voice. “Fang Manor. Nobody has lived there since the Fang family mysteriously disappeared over a century ago.”

Taylor snickered. “I doubt the Prince of Magnifico is living there. That’s only an urban legend.”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention to the right gossip.” Katherine jabbed at his shoulder.

“Who’d want to live in a haunted house?” Taylor asked.

“The house isn’t haunted,” Katherine said.

Loud chattering echoed through the stadium, causing me to glance around. Every row was now occupied, not leaving even an inch of free space.

Hmmm. The execution must’ve been ready to start soon if the place was filled to capacity.